Poised To Crack

[fotugraphy]

Hi, going forward on my photography venture I stopped and clicked another shot. Can you please review it and let me know what exactly is missing for it to make it much better?

I took this image at Humayun Tomb, New Delhi while i was practising for leading lines and elements. It was less than 1 inch crack on the floor and i tried to use this crack as a leading line towards the monument. I really like the distortion around the corners, specially bottom corner caused by UWA lens because they are leading viewer's eye towards the center of the frame and acting as a leading elements.

I must admit that light was not in my fav. because it was a sunny afternoon but still i tried my best to control the harsh light in the scene and lead viewer's eye where i want to.

With the post processing I have made the dust in the crack more on the warmer side and the stone around the crack on a colder side to maintain a good contrast between the stoned floor and the crack.

Please share your views on the composition and the post processing.

Thank You

PS : Please click on the image for lightbox screen view (Highly recommended)

[Shadowman]

Nice, what is that building in the background?

[fotugraphy]

Nice, what is that building in the background?

thanks for your kind review It is Humayun Tomb.

[Geoff F]

For me, Raj, there is too much distraction and out of focus areas like the trees for this to work well for me.

I would try a substantial crop from the sides, and possibly a fraction from the bottom if needed, to end up at a 4 x 5 ratio size.

You may get away with a narrow aperture but for a scene requiring this much depth of sharp focus I suspect that you would be needing a merge of two (or more) shots with different focus points. Which would probably mean a tripod.

Either way, I would want to miss out that large board on the right side.

Certainly potential in this scene.

[fotugraphy]

For me, Raj, there is too much distraction and out of focus areas like the trees for this to work well for me.

I would try a substantial crop from the sides, and possibly a fraction from the bottom if needed, to end up at a 4 x 5 ratio size.

You may get away with a narrow aperture but for a scene requiring this much depth of sharp focus I suspect that you would be needing a merge of two (or more) shots with different focus points. Which would probably mean a tripod.

Either way, I would want to miss out that large board on the right side.

Certainly potential in this scene.

Thanks a lot for your valuable review and feedback. I'm well aware of the distraction like humans in this scene. I must admin it was my fault that i knew i will get good rush here and forgot to bring my ND Filter to remove the people from the scene.

I will be going for a reshoot again at the same place for some more unique perspectives and will reshoot this one again and this time i will try to clone out the sign board on the right.

It was clicked with max aperture value F22. With such shot I had faced 2 major problems:
1. Tripod is not allowed in the premises.
2. I have to keep my camera on the ground because of slower shutter speed, and my lens's minimum focus distance is 1 foot. I'm not sure how to achieve everything in focus on the ground. What if i keep my camera 1 feet behind this crack and change focal length from 11mm to 16mm?

The trees are not out of focus, i have used Gaussian blur on the trees. I'm extremely sorry i forgot to mention about the blur on the trees in the description. Only the floor dust and monument was kept sharp do maintain attention towards them. Just as suggested, i will remove Gaussian blur and remove distractions for my next similar shot

[Stagecoach]

Hi Raj,

The first thing that strikes me is that it could do with a 0.5 degree anticlockwise rotation.

Good use of the UWA and I think your idea of moving slightly farther back from the crack will work, you may then have the option to crop some from the bottom if necessary.

Grahame

[Geoff F]

Just a thought, if you need a slow shutter speed but can't use a tripod, is there anything else which may work; such as a backpack or basket etc? Anything would do to gain just a little bit of height.

[FrankMi]

With such shot I had faced 2 major problems:
1. Tripod is not allowed in the premises.
2. I have to keep my camera on the ground because of slower shutter speed, and my lens's minimum focus distance is 1 foot.

Usually, the restriction on tripods is the tripping hazard. I wonder if they would mind you using a GorillaPod? http://joby.com/

[fotugraphy]

Hi Raj,

The first thing that strikes me is that it could do with a 0.5 degree anticlockwise rotation.

Good use of the UWA and I think your idea of moving slightly farther back from the crack will work, you may then have the option to crop some from the bottom if necessary.

Grahame

Thanks a lot for your feedback and review I will rotate the image as suggested and will try to reshoot it

[fotugraphy]

Just a thought, if you need a slow shutter speed but can't use a tripod, is there anything else which may work; such as a backpack or basket etc? Anything would do to gain just a little bit of height.

Once again thanks a lot for the suggestion for the height for the backpack. I will try to reshoot it as suggested

[fotugraphy]

Usually, the restriction on tripods is the tripping hazard. I wonder if they would mind you using a GorillaPod? http://joby.com/

thanks a lot for the review and the suggestion. I'm really planning to buy a small tripod or gorillapod for such places.

[jcuknz]

I would not get too hung up on the need for a tripod for multiple exposures because depending on your editing programme, if it has layers it should be fairly easy to register the different frames. Even if you cannot adjust the intensity of the top layer you should discover miss-matches the way astronomers switch between images of stars to find newly appearing ones. The technique was also used for military purposes.

[fotugraphy]

I would not get too hung up on the need for a tripod for multiple exposures because depending on your editing programme, if it has layers it should be fairly easy to register the different frames. Even if you cannot adjust the intensity of the top layer you should discover miss-matches the way astronomers switch between images of stars to find newly appearing ones. The technique was also used for military purposes.

Thanks a lot for your review and feedback. I use photoshop CC for my post processing